Digital Destiny
by Rapidfyrez
Summary: They sky over Beacon exploded, and nothing will ever be the same again.
1. Chapter 1

**Up In the Sky: A Surprise Visit!**

"Yang Xiao Long, let go of me this instant!" commanded Weiss Schnee, Heiress of the Schnee Dust Company, even as her busty blonde friend dragged her across Beacon's courtyard to the waiting airships.

Yang flashed a mischievous smile at Weiss, "Ah, c'mon Weiss. With Ruby back home for the next day or two, we should enjoy the fun while it lasts!"

Weiss dug her heels into the ground, to no avail. Once Yang had her mind set on something, there was very little that could stop her from getting to it. Though, Weiss could certainly be stubborn in her own right when the occasion demanded it.

"If that were true, you would have invited Blake! Not those two!" she jerked her head at their friends. Nora Valkyrie skipped merrily alongside Yang and grinned merrily at Weiss's acknowledgement. Opposite her Lie Ren walked solemnly, a man resigned to his fate.

Yang made a clicking noise with her tongue, the noise of a parent scolding a child, "Weiss, they're our friends too. Don't be mean."

"No offense," Weiss growled at them and then glared back at Yang, tugging hard on her grip until her hand finally slipped free of Yang's grip.

Yang stopped and turned around with her hands on her hips. She may have only been a little taller than average, but without her high heels, she was still clearly taller than Weiss; Yang knew, though, that trying to intimidate her was an exercise in futility. Like her, Weiss was a huntress in training at Beacon Academy, learning how to fight the monsters that lived outside the borders of the four kingdoms. This gave her a stubborn streak that was almost on par with Yang's.

"Blake is hiding in the library," Yang explained, slowly, " last I checked. Nothing short of the apocalypse will drag her out of there. That just leaves the two of us, and I'm not gonna' spend the start of our spring break cooped up in the dorm."

Weiss's eyes flashed as she rubbed her wrist, "Ruby said you went club hopping by yourself all the time before you came to Beacon. Why drag the three of us along?"

Nora wrapped an arm around Yang's shoulder, still smiling, "Actually, I decided to tag along on my own! Ren agreed to be the designated driver in case anything _crazy_ happens!"

Weiss glanced at Ren, who shrugged silently in response. She sighed and looked back at Yang, "But why _me_? I'm fine at the dorm or on campus. A little R&R would be appreciated after the mess we made in Vale."

Despite what Weiss said, the 'mess' in Vale had been an almost disappointingly tiny breach in the city's defenses orchestrated by a surprisingly flamboyant criminal. It had taken less than ten minutes for the city defenses to clean up the mess, and even without help from the visiting representative from the Atleasian army, it would've been handled fine. Now Vale was safe and sound again, and travel from Beacon to the city was approved for any and all students, so long as they were back on campus by ten o'clock at night.

"Weiss," Yang pleaded. "You need to get out more. How much harm could a little harm actually do?"

The only response from Weiss, was an elegant raise of one snow white eyebrow. Yang frowned and poked her in the ribs, "Come on."

Weiss pushed her hand away, "No."

Another poke.

"Come on."

"No!"

Poke

"Come on."

"I said no, Yang."

Yang sighed and raised her hands in defeat, "Alright, fine. You win. If you're really dead set on having a boring night on campus, I won't stop you."

Weiss brushed off her glacial blue dress and said, "Thank you, Yang. I appreciate-"

It was at that specific moment that the sky over Beacon promptly exploded. Yang and the few other individuals in the courtyard staggered and covered their eyes as light brighter than the sun lit the horizon. Sparks streamed from the rapidly forming rift, showering those below in intense fire. In seconds, a tear hundreds of feet long and dozens across filled the sky overhead and blanketed the entirety of the academy in its blinding light.

"What is going on!?" Weiss demanded.

Nora answered the only way she could,"The sky is falling!"

Yang pulled her shades out from the pocket in her coat, even as Weiss made a noise of disgust, and slipped them on. Even with them though, the light overhead burned her eyes. She began to pull her gaze away, when something caught her attention. A dark speck in the center of the tear. A speck that was very quickly getting larger.

"Everyone move!" Yang yelled. There was no argument, they scattered back towards the academy.

They made it maybe a few dozen feet when a giant hit the ground with his personal sledgehammer. It bucked beneath Yang's feet, sending her tumbling end over end across the cobblestone pathway that cut through the center of the courtyard. She rolled to a stop at the base of the Statue of Heroes, a memorial for the lost built in the center of Beacon's courtyard.

When her vision stopped spinning, Yang was able to get a grasp on the situation. Beacon Academy was built overlooking a seaside cliff edge, around a massive central radio station that stretched well over a thousand feet high. Most of its structures were composed of a brick edifice, which stretched north and south along its eastern and western flanks. The side that faced the cliff's edge held a large open courtyard that lead directly to the tower itself, preceded only by the plaza where the statue was located and surrounded by a dozen towering marble columns on either side.

All of this was left relatively intact by the colossal impact, though the courtyard grass was a little scorched. There weren't many people coming to and from Beacon at the moment, thankfully, only a few staff members and fellow students. They had had the good sense to book it back for the main campus when the rift had opened, so none of them saw what had landed.

But Yang saw, and she couldn't believe what her eyes were showing her.

It slowly rose until it stood over five stories high, covered in crimson red armor. It was bipedal, with digitigrade legs that ended in claws made of a shining steel. Its massive arms were nearly as long as its entire body, the left ending in a trident like claw and the right in a grasping hook. A pair of massive turbines rested on its back and a long armored tail ponderously twitched from side to side. Its head was half smooth plating and half angular armor focused along its lower jaws. Long fangs jutted from its mouth even when closed, and a long piece of crimson metal rose from its snout. A pair of sickly yellow eyes rested within its armored skull, highlighted further by the ugly green sclera that surrounded the irses..

This creature, unlike any that Yang had ever seen, began to slowly look from side to side, sending dazzling reflections from the rift dancing across its armor. That light was beginning to fade, but it was slow and still made Yang feel half blind. She felt a hand wrap around her arm, and a familiar voice called out.

"Are you okay?" it was Ren's.

"Yeah, thanks." She said. He helped her to her feet, where they both turned their attention back to the monster.

"What in the world is that thing?" Yang heard Weiss ask from behind her. Nora came up beside them at the same time, equally as puzzled. "I dunno, I've never seen anything like it. Think it's a Grimm?"

The creature took in a deep breath and exhaled, which sounded similar to a massive stage fan running at full power. Then, it spoke, in a voice of rasping steel and cold unfeeling machine, sending shivers down the spines of anyone that heard it.

"So, this is the human world... It smells delicious..."

Then it ploughed its hook straight into the ground. Stone and earth parted like water, which itself began spraying from broken pipes in geysers. It pulled its hook back, pulling cables from the ground in long strings, and twisted its arm.

"Wowza!" Nora yelped.

Yang looked at her with a raised brow. Every hair on Nora's body stood on end, turning her into a giant orange dandelion with attitude. There was a surprised and somewhat pleased expression on her face, that just made Yang raise her brow even higher.

"You guys can't feel that?" Nora asked, waving at the air.

"Feel what?" Weiss replied.

Nora pointed at the tower, then at the giant robo-lizard that seemed to be ignoring them, "The huge current of electricity going towards that thing. It's like Beacon is its own personal milkshake, and the power lines are its straw."

The machine let out a satisfied sigh in response, and a crackle of static lightning ran across its arm.

Yang quirked her lips, "Well then, let's have a nice friendly chat with the ginormous armored gecko, shall we?"

Around each of Yang's wrists was a golden bracelet that hung loosely around her fingerless gloves. When she clenched her fists, each one spiraled out into large gauntlets that covered her hands and most of her forearms. As a Huntress-in-training, Yang had been required to build a personal weapon to suit her fighting style. The result was a pair of shotgun gauntlets that she had named Ember Celica. Their range was limited, but Yang had always preferred getting up close and personal with her opponents.

She looked to see Weiss and Nora with their mobile phones, commonly called Scrolls, in their hands. In the distance, there was a distinct hiss of two missiles being launched, and a pair of pinpricks raced across the overlit sky. They came to a crashing vertical stop a few feet to the right in a shower of stone and exhaust.

The missiles were actually rocket guided lockers that Beacon provided for the students. Not everyone had weapons they could wear like Yang did, and so they stored them in an RGL until they needed them. Weiss slipped her phone inside her snow-white jacket right as the locker doors swung open in unison.

Nora pulled out a colossal silver and pink hammer, hefting it like it was a toy, while Weiss retrieved her delicate rapier, and spun the revolver chamber built into the hilt. Four lights ignited along the surface in unison, casting a faint glow across the blade's surface. Weiss gave it an experimental swing, and smirked when she saw Yang looking at her.

Yang did the same, and gave Ren a quick glance. He held his weapons ready, a pair of emerald machine pistols with sickle knives added to the end of the barrels, and nodded at her. Satisfied that their impromptu team was ready for action, Yang whirled back around toward their uninvited guest, and froze.

The machine was staring at them with one yellow-green eye, mouth hanging open in a sly grin at their antics. Now that they were aware of its attention, it slowly removed its hook from the ground, snapping cables as thick around as Yang's arm with almost contemptuous ease. It steadied itself on its legs, shaking the ground as it did, and lowered its head to be more level with the four of them.

"You must be humans… I've heard quite a bit about you… I must say, I'm far from impressed." it said. Its voice was filled with a mocking laughter that made Yang bristle.

She took a threatening step forward, "Watch it motormouth, I've taken things way bigger than you. Far as I'm concerned, you're just a calculator with an attitude problem."

More of its mechanical laughter, and the machine rose to its full height, "Big words, from something so tiny… But can you back them up, human?"

Yang sneered, and before Weiss could even shout "Wait!", she was off like a bullet. Though she wasn't the fastest huntress in her class, Yang could still haul into action when the situation required it. In a few bounding leaps, she was at the machines feet. She thrust both arms behind her, and fired Ember Celica.

While a lot of the rounds she used had a lot of kick in them, Yang typically kept her gauntlets loaded with shells designed to move her faster and farther. They could hit hard if the occasion demanded it, but that took way more effort than it was worth. But as a set of personal rocket boosters, they were perfect.

The first round launched her a good ten feet into the air, and when her feet touched metal, she launched herself again. And again, and again she rose higher up the machine before it could move. Its large size was intimidating, but it took time to move all that bulk, and by that time, Yang was already up at its face.

She hit the monster across its oversized anvil of a head as hard as she could, firing a round for good measure. The kick sent her spiraling away through the air into gravity's clutches. The machine's head snapped forward with mechanical precision, bringing its massive jaws crashing down on Yang.

Or rather, it tried to bring them down on her. Through sheer luck, determination, and a lot of skill, Yang jammed her hands and feet in between its enormous fangs and pinned its jaw open. That effort alone shocked the strength from her limbs, and every second was an agonizing struggle against death. The putrid stink of its mouth odor didn't help. Go figure that was the one part of its body _not_ covered in metal. Something slimy ran down Yangs forearms and dripped into her hair, and she gagged.

That wasn't even the worst part. When it started laughing at her, a slow, mocking mechanical laughter that shook its cavernous maw, Yang's blood began to boil with indignant anger. But she was stuck, she couldn't move an inch without risking being crushed, and some small part of her thought that the machine knew it.

Its laughter slowed to a stop, and it spoke, "I think that's enough playtime for now…"

Air rushed past Yang from behind into the massive gullet that waited to swallow her. She took a deep breath, and tensed for whatever was going to come next. An orange glow began to fill its throat a moment later.

 **-PYRO BLASTER!-**

A wall of compressed heat smashed into Yang and knocked her free of her pinned position. A ball of superheated fire rolled through the air a moment later, missing her by inches and soaring for several dozen feet before exploding against the courtyard and setting it ablaze.

End over end, Yang began to fall to the courtyard below. It would have been too short a fall for her to adjust and land properly, but that was a non-issue. Before she even hit the ground, Yang felt someone grab her mid air before they both landed back on the ground a fair distance from the machine.

"Uh, thanks…" Yang blinked a few times and shook her head until her vision cleared. "Thanks Ren."

The young man nodded and helped Yang to her feet, "Next time, wait."

"We've fought big nasties before," Yang replied, and brushed ash off her shoulders. When she ran a hand through her long curly blonde hair, she felt the spit that had started to dry and tangle it, and sneered.

"And I'm going to teach this one some proper manners." she said in a low growl, before stalking forward. Ren grabbed her by the arm and said, "Yang, you need to back off. We can't hurt this machine with our weapons. Its armor is too strong."

She slammed her fists together with a sharp crack, knuckle to knuckle and snarled. It was frustrating to admit, but when Yang looked back at the carnage unfolding in front of the courtyard pillars, she realized that Ren might have a point.

During her little brush with almost becoming robo lizard chow, Nora and Weiss had been busy. Grenades soared in great arcs through the air, exploding into clouds of pink smoke with each impact against the cyborg's crimson surface. Nora quickly followed, bouncing between joints by smashing her hammer into them as hard as she could and using the impact to propel her to the next one.

Beneath its feet, the ground was ablaze with brilliant white glyphs that exploded into crystalline towers of ice that grabbed at its clawed feet. A dozen more glyphs, each a deep ebony, appeared across its body, where they hung as immovable cornerstones. Weiss stood stationary, waving her rapier in elegant gestures; a conductor of warfare, and this was her music.

None of it left so much as a scratch on its armor. They might as well have been pelting it with snowballs for all the good it was doing; it just walked through everything, Weiss's glyphs and Nora's barrage. With every step, it was drawing closer to Beacon Tower.

Yang admittedly wasn't the most up to date when it came to history or current events, but she was changing that and even she knew that Beacon Tower was vital for communication with the other kingdoms. If this thing, this cyborg lizard, whatever it was called, got its mitts on the tower, it would have no trouble bringing the whole thing down.

"Not on my watch," Yang growled under her breath. Louder she said, "Ren, come on. We're all that stands in its path."

Ren went tight lipped, but he didn't protest what Yang was saying. He nodded, and Yang grinned. "All right! Lets-!"

Turbines roared overhead, and a pair of VTOL aircraft came screaming over the campus airspace. Beacon had been in a time of celebration when this sudden rift had torn open the sky, an international event called the Vytal Festival. Representatives from the four kingdoms had all come to join in celebration and memory of eighty years of general world peace. Of the three out of kingdom representatives though, only one of them had brought an entire armada with them.

General Ironwood, for whatever reason, had brought several of his massive military airships to Beacon, which included several Bullhead VTOLs. Yang had ridden in a few and seen them drop off troops before. She had never seen them engaged in combat like this though.

Both of them launched missiles from hidden compartments on their hulls in a flurry of smoke and fire. A dozen swarming rockets that smashed into the attacking monster's chest. It was enough to actually force it to stop, and even make it flinch in surprise, at the very least. Smoke quickly filled the air, hiding it from view.

Yang and Ren quickly recovered from the sudden interference, and went sprinting into the smoke. Covering her mouth with her arm, Yang went straight for the last place she had seen Weiss. To her relief, the pale faced girl hadn't left, but that relief quickly turned into worry when she saw Weiss on her knees.

"Are you okay!?" Yang asked, sliding next to her and carefully grabbing her by the shoulders.

Weiss coughed and brushed Yangs hands away, "I'm… fine. Just a little tired. I've never summoned that many glyphs that quickly before. Just give me a minute."

The ground shook, and the smoke swirled around them. Overhead, a shadow loomed, parting the smoke before its bulk with each ground-shaking step. Its scarlet chassis slid from their embrace, and to Yang's pleasure, she saw a few scuff marks on its chest. It wasn't much, but it was something.

That something must have struck a nerve, as the cyborg opened its mouth and unleashed a roar that could best be described as the revving of a hundred engines at once. The smoke cover vanished, and the Bullheads became visible again, painfully clear and outlined by the light of the rift.

Yang grabbed the rapier on the ground and shoved it into Weiss's hands, "Time's up!"

"Right!"

They both stumbled away even as the lizard whirled around to face the bullheads. They were circling around for another pass, the miniguns slung under their bulbous noses spinning up to unleash thunderous bursts. Twin linked machine gun fire raced across the sky and raked against its chassis, deflecting harmlessly off its body. Yang felt something hard slam into her back, but her natural Aura protected her from it, so that she only stumbled.

She and Weiss managed to get distance between them and the chaos unfolding, right as Ren and Nora linked back up with them. Nora was grinning like mad, but Ren had a grim expression on his face. Yang agreed with how he looked, things were going pear-shaped fast.

The cyborg roared another challenge at the approaching bullheads. They began to split up and apart from one another to prepare for another pass, but it wasn't going to let them go that easily.

 **-TRIDENT SKEWER!-**

 **-CHAOS CRUSHER!-**

Fire ignited from the grasping hook of its right arm, propelling the three pronged grabber through the air at ludicrous speed. Its trident shaped left arm was launched too, connected to its host by a retractable steel cable. The former tore the engine off the left side bullhead, sending it spinning out of control until it crashed atop a dormitory and slid off where it vanished in a scream of tearing metal. The latter found itself impaled by the trident arm through the main body, and pulled towards the machine.

"No, no!" Yang made a beeline back into the fray, ignoring the protests of the others.

Both hook and claw returned to their owner, gripping the newly acquired bullhead in its claws. It laughed again, even as the crew abandoned ship, "So disappointed… I had expected so much more, from humans."

Its yellow eyes flicked up towards Yang and the others, and its jaws parted in a sadistic grin. With a flick of its arm, the bullhead went spinning end over end, straight for the four students. Yang came to a skidding stop, and her legs slipped out from under her. She scrambled backwards, but it was no use. The aircraft arced high into the air and fell towards Yang as a plummeting ten ton missile.

And then suddenly, it was stopped.

The world had gone dark, there had been a crash of steel on steel… Yang blinked her eyes, and thought for a moment she was dead. The bullhead's mutilated remains crashed to the side, confirming that no, she was not dead. Her gaze went from the aircraft, towards the source of the mysterious shadow.

The first thing she saw, was a pair of large, kind amber eyes that practically glowed. They were all she could make out behind her rescuer's helmet, modeled after knightly headgear, like she saw in the movies. A red dragonhead had been modeled onto the helmet, and a silver plume fell off to the side.

He was big, a good thirty feet tall. Unlike the rampaging robo-lizard though, he had a more human shape. Obviously he wasn't human though. Marble white armor adorned his body from head to toe, shiny and clean. His body was odd, in that while the proportions were right for the most part, his waist was too thin, his legs too long and his chest too wide. He had the body of some over designed video game character, Yang thought.

A pair of red and golden pauldrons rested on his shoulders, and a long red cape hung from his back and cloaked the both of them. Over his head, he held a colossal round shield that was nearly as large as he was. It was what he had used to block the descent of the bullhead, and he had done it faster than Yang had been able to process. That, or he'd been invisible.

The… man, that was the only appropriate descriptor, cocked his head to the side, as if he was examining Yang at the same time she was looking at him. He spoke in a soft tenor, and very eloquently.

"Are you unharmed, human child? Chaosdramon has done no harm to you?"

Yang blinked, "I-I'm fine. He got some drool in my hair, but I'm okay. And my name is Yang."

"Apologies," he said, bowing his head slightly, "You may call me Gallantmon, Miss Yang."

What kind of name was that? Yang said so aloud, and Gallantmon chuckled, "It is my name, simple as that. Now, miss Yang, I will ask that you return to your comrades. I imagine they are quite concerned for your current condition."

Yang got to her feet and brushed herself off, "Um, right. Thanks… Gallantmon."

Another bow, "The pleasure is mine, ma'am."

"Sir," she corrected. "Call me sir."

"Apologies again, sir." Gallantmon said. Then he stood as well, and swept his cape aside with his free hand. The rifts light shimmered along his armored body, and even as he stood with his cape gently blowing in the breeze, Yang was immediately reminded of the statue in the courtyard. A living legend come to life.

She was also reminded that she should probably back off for the moment, and quickly ran back to the others. Weiss was scowling at her, hands on hips, when Yang got to them, and jabbed a finger at her, "Yang Xiao Long! Don't ever do something that stupid again, okay!? The last thing I need is you getting hurt on my watch."

Yang nodded absent-mindedly, "Whatever you say Weiss…"

She, like Ren and Nora, was far more focused on Gallantmon and the machine, what he had called Chaosdramon. They stood a fair distance apart, but Chaosdramon had its head low and looked absolutely furious at the appearance of the knight.

Gallantmon held his shield tight to his chest, covering most of his body, and spoke. He spoke, and though he didn't yell, he could be clearly heard.. It sounded like he was standing among them, and not a few hundred feet away.

"Chaosdramon, you have committed crimes against the denizens of the Digital World, and of the Human World. The innocent have perished by your hand, and more live in danger by your mere presence. Yet, I am not without mercy. Surrender now, and you will be brought back to the Digital World to stand trial. I offer you this now; what say you?"

Chaosdramon scoffed, "Do you practice speeches like that…? Or is being that much of a pompous windbag programmed into you…?"

It glanced skyward, and its mouth parted in another grin, "Besides, the rift cannot remain open forever, Royal Knight… If I resist, will you be willing to risk being trapped here forever…?"

Yang and the others followed his gaze. To her surprise, she realized that Chaosdramon was right. The light was nowhere near as blinding as before, and while Yang could see nothing beyond the portal, she could see the sky of Beacon slowly eroding it away.

Gallantmon let out a sigh, "You sadden me, Chaosdramon. My duty is to the protection of the innocent, be they human or digimon. I will not allow you to run rampant against those that have wronged us. If you insist on being difficult, then know that what follows is your fault, and your fault alone."

He raised his free hand to the sky, and a bolt of lightning erupted literally from nowhere to strike it. In its place, he held a long lance, nearly as long as he was. Gallantmon's arm fell forward, and he took up a fighter's stance. Chaosdramon roared, and went low, baring his fangs in a rumbling snarl.

"Have at you!"

Gallantmon charged, and he was as fast as Yang thought he would be. A lance was normally used on horseback, but the knight moved with such speed and grace that it was unnecessary. Compared to him, Chaosdramon might as well have been standing still.

His lance took Chaosdramon in the shoulder, skidding off the plating in a shower of sparks. Gallantmon leaped past Chaosdramon, twisting midair to land behind it and thrust his lance forward. Chaosdramon turned in time for another blow to scrape across its midsection, and a third across its chest.

Another roar sounded from its mouth, and the fourth blow was intercepted by its long trident arm. Gallantmon dodged back in time to avoid the attack from its hook that reduced the ground to rubble where he had been standing before, and immediately counter attacked. Once more Chaosdramon blocked it, and countered.

For several long seconds it went like this, attack and counter attack. Gallantmon pressed hard though, practically dancing around any of Chaosdramon's counter moves. With each of his own attacks, he slowly forced it backwards, step by step.

Most importantly, each attack had an actual impact on Chaosdramon. Though it wasn't much, where Gallantmon's lance struck, it left thin scratches in Chaosdramon's armor. Where the armor seemed to be thinner, those wounds widened into thick gouges. Unlike them, Gallantmon had the weaponry to hurt Chaosdramon, and Chaosdramon knew it.

Another exchange of blows, but this time Chaosdramon feinted his counter. He slammed his hooked arm into Gallantmon's shield with a bell-tolling, resounding impact. The force was strong enough to send Gallantmon soaring backwards, falling on his back. He quickly adapted and rolled back onto his feet, using his shield to steady himself, and once more went charging into the fray.

Yang felt antsy as she watched all this. As awesome as it was to watch Gallantmon beat the snot out of Chaosdramon, she hated sitting on the sidelines, there had to be something she could do, anything. She had considered convincing the others to go put out the fire Chaosdramon had started earlier, but it had burned itself out quickly, save for a few minor burners on the lawn. The festival hadn't quite begun, so the few civilians on campus would have already fled, and most of the students were either in Vale vacationing, or off taking contract jobs in the greater Kingdom as a whole.

As far as she knew, they were the only four huntresses in the immediate area. It would turn out though, that she was only half right.

"What in the world is going on here?" A baritone voice demanded.

Yang and the others whirled around to see General Ironwood approaching them, his stern expression quickly changing into one of confusion as he beheld the brawl between Gallantmon and Chaosdramon, who was wailing on the former's shield.

Ironwood was a tall man, dressed military neat with short black hair that was beginning to grey. He had a strong face and dark calculating blue eyes. It was normally hard to get a read on Ironwood, but it was obvious that he had _not_ expected to see any of what he saw now when he woke up in the morning.

"Oh, General Ironwood!" Weiss said, surprised. She looked back at the courtyard and winced, "It's um, a long story."

Ironwoods expression went stern again, "Explain then, Miss Schnee."

She did, with help from Yang and the others. There wasn't too much to cover, and by the end, Ironwood had his eyes focused back on Gallantmon and Chaosdramon. They were locked together now, his lance twisted between the claws of Chaosdramon's trident, while it tried to use its hook to rip his shield from his grip.

"And my men?" Ironwood asked, without looking away. "I already helped with the bullhead that crashed among the dorms. What about the men here?"

"I saw them running off before Chaosdramon tried to flatten me with it," Yang said. "I think they're okay."

Ironwood nodded, "Very well. I'll have to ask the four of you to come with me then. The fleet shall monitor the situation as it unfolds, and according to you, standard huntsmen weaponry isn't effective against this… Chaosdramon."

Yang wanted to argue that there had to be something they could do to help, anything. But she knew Ironwood was right. Gallantmon was running circles around it, they would probably just get in they way if they tried to help. As much as it frustrated her, letting Atlas handle things for now seemed like the right thing to do.

Metal screamed against metal, and everyone turned their attention back to the fight. Chaosdramon raked his claws across Gallantmons chest in a vicious side hook that sent him rolling across the ground into the nearest building. Stonework exploded into a cloud of debris, and Chaosdramon fell onto all fours, opening its maw wide.

 **-CHAOS BLASTER!-**

A needle thin beam of scarlet light lanced forth into the cloud. Gallantmon burst from it in a sprint towards the cliffside. Chaosdramon tracked him as he ran, carving a red hot trail of destruction in his wake, that detonated moments later into explosions that shook the campus. Gallantmon slid to a stop at the cliffs edge, and jumped. His leap took him over Chaosdramon's head in a single bound, cape flapping behind him as he landed crouched.

Lightning crackled along the edge of his lance, arcing faster and faster until the entire metal surface glowed as bright as the rift overhead.

 **-LIGHTNING JOUST!-**

With Chaosdramon's back turned, it would be unable to defend against Gallantmon's attack, and it looked powerful. Just as Gallantmon lunged to strike though, the rift overhead suddenly exploded. Fire and light filled the courtyard, eradicating shadow. Gallantmon's shot went wide, scraping against the side of Chaosdramon's skull.

The scream of agonized fury that followed shattered windows and sent the five watching to their knees. Chaosdramon whirled, smashing its trident into Gallantmon. Once more he went soaring, farther than ever. He crashed into one of the courtyard pillars, which had remained miraculously untouched during the struggle, and the marble broke with a clear snap.

Stone broke free and shattered on the ground below, while the column itself slowly tilted and fell into the opening towards Yang, Weiss, Ren, and Nora, all still blinded by the light. There was no time for any other action, and though his vision was as useless as theirs, Gallantmon somehow managed to throw himself over the teenagers, using his own body as a shield.

The column crashed against him, knocking Gallantmon off his knees flat onto his face. It was only then that the light subsided. When their vision returned, the four of them saw Gallantmon facing them pinned beneath the rubble with his eyes shut tight.

"We should help him, right?" Weiss asked.

Chaosdramon's shadow fell over them, "I would advise against it…" it snarled. Part of its armored skull had been chipped away on the left side of its face, exposing pale wrinkled skin to the elements.

It reached down with it's hook and grabbed Gallantmon by the head, lifting him and the rubble up with ease. The mocking, mechanical laughter returned when Chaosdramon pointed Gallantmon's head to the sky. The clear, empty sky. Only bits of debris remained, falling to the academy below in bits and pieces.

"All that effort for nothing… You've lost, knight…"

Gallantmon started to retort, but Chaosdramon squeezed hard, its hydraulic muscles whirring. Whatever Gallantmon might have said, was quickly replaced with an ear piercing scream.

"What was that?" Chaosdramon asked after loosening its grip. "I couldn't hear you."

It squeeze again, before smashing Gallantmon into the ground face up, and pinning him there with its hook, and squeezing hard. Though Gallantmon's armor remained strong, it began to groan under the strain. He grabbed at Chaosdramon's hook with his hands and pulled, to no avail. It was far stronger than he was, on a purely physical level.

Chaosdramon made its toothy grin, and said, "Your armor may be nigh impenetrable, but I wonder how much force it can take before I crush you like an egg."

That was enough of that, as far as Yang was concerned. "We need to do something, anything!" she told the others.

Nora hefted her hammer, "Fun as it is wailing on it, that thing doesn't even react when we attack it. What could we possibly do to hurt it?"

That was true, it would take more than what they had at their disposal to hurt Chaosdramon. She looked around the battlefield, around the ruined cobblestone pathway, ice covered fields, and ruined landmarks. Then she looked at General Ironwood, and grinned.

"General, I have a plan I think you're going to like."

His brow went up, and the edge of his lips twitched, "Is that so?"

Yang explained her plan, and while she may not be the strategist that Nora and Ren's leader was, or as spur of the moment creative as Ruby could be, she wasn't above a little innovative planning when the occasion called for it. By the time she finished, everyone save Ironwood shared her grin.

They broke into action almost immediately. Ren and Ironwood worked to scale one of the still standing columns, while Nora and Weiss circled Chaosdramon. While they did that, Yang carefully scaled Chaosdramon, who seemed oblivious to their presence. Its armor was covered in dents and gashes now, no longer the impenetrable shell it had been. It also made plenty of handholds for Yang to use.

As she climbed, she spared Gallantmon a glance. His eyes were clenched tight in pain, but something caught his attention, and he opened them long enough to see Yang scaling Chaosdramon. A quick expression of understanding filled his eyes, before it was replaced with righteous fury, directed at Chaosdramon.

"I say… again, Chaosdramon." Gallantmon gasped, "Surrender yourself… and face fair judgement… It doesn't have to end like this."

Chaosdramon just snarled a response and squeezed even harder. He paid no mind to Yang, or Nora and Weiss. Not even when Nora used her hammer to clear the debris covering the still leaking pipes and cables, or when Weiss used her ebony glyphs to redirect them at Chaosdramon, his hooked arm in water. This wouldn't ordinarily be an issue, but the many dings and bits of damage Gallantmon had inflicted, left plenty of entry wounds.

Odds were good he would notice it if his arm became waterlogged, which was where Yang came into play. It was time for her to do what she did best; Namely, blindly charge at the enemy while absolutely frothing mad. She grabbed onto her anger and frustration that had built up all day, and tapped into her semblance.

While some, like Nora, could use their semblance to absorb electricity, Yang's functioned a little differently. She could absorb any force inflicted on her, store it for a time, and inflict it on her opponent. Chaosdramon had tried to hurt her, but the few hits it had landed were hardly enough for Yang to really go full-bore. Luckily for her, she didn't need to go full ham, she just needed one clear shot.

Yang crouched, coiling her leg muscles like springs, and shot off Chaosdramon's shoulder. She smashed her fist into its exposed eye, and fired Ember Celica pointblank. Flesh tore, and Chaosdramon's scream of agony was legendary.

It whipped its head into Yang, sending her crashing into the nearest marble column and onto the floor, and roared at her, absolutely furious. "Stupid human, I am beyond you! What did you think you could do attacking me like that!?"

Yang pushed herself up and blew a hair out of her face, "Mostly, I was just trying to distract you."

Chaosdramon's good eye blinked, "What?"

Behind him, Weiss pointed her rapier at Chaosdramon's waterlogged arm. Ice immediately erupted from its many cuts. As water was turned to ice, it was left with nowhere to go but out. Metal groaned and creaked, and Chaosdramon bellowed with more pain, staggering to the side as his arm began to contort under the pressure.

Plating burst open into miniature icebergs, exposing the delicate circuitry within. Its grip on Gallantmon loosened, and it released the knight onto the ground. Gallantmon gasped for air even as Chaosdramon lost its mind. Its eyes ignited with red fury, all of it turned on Yang.

It paid no mind to Ironwood as he shone a laser on its weakened arm and contacted the airships floating high overhead. "All ships, I have marked the target, do you copy?"

' _Roger General, we have visual.'_

"Fire on my mark," he said.

"Three, two, one. Mark."

There was a brief pause, before ordnance from powerful cannons designed for ground bombardment slammed into Chaosdramon. The shots that hit its body did no more than stun it, but several smashed into its damaged arm. The bombardment was brief, only a handful of seconds before Ironwood sent the all-clear command.

When the smoke cleared, Chaosdramon was back on all fours. Or rather, all three of its remaining limbs. Its hook arm lay on the ground in shattered pieces, and the stump on its body sparked uselessly. Chaosdramon's glowing red eyes were filled with fury.

But it paid no mind to the humans, whirling instead skyward where the airships were, "I will end you humans! You understand me!? End you!"

"You shall do no such thing, Chaosdramon." said Gallantmon.

It looked down at the knight, and snarled, "I've had enough of you too."

Gallantmon rested the tip of his lance on the ground and shook his head, "Chaosdramon, you sadden me. Again and again, I have offered you mercy. Yet you pursued me across the digital realm for no purpose save wanton destruction. You are capable of so much more."

Something about his words struck a chord with Chaosdramon. It made an odd chuffing sound, like an old engine failing to startup. "Here's what I think of your mercy, Gallantmon!"

The turbines along Chaosdramon's back sputtered to life, sliding forward until they rested on either side of its head. Light began to coalesce around their ends, sending crackling static electricity running along the courtyard.

 **-HYPER CANNON!-**

Crimson energy balled into twin orbs, and erupted towards Gallantmon. Even as all this happened, the Knight could only shake his head in disappointment.

"So be it."

 **-SHIELD OF THE JUST!-**

Finally, Yang saw the surface of his shield as he brought it forward. A series of eight golden triangles circled a larger group of red four triangles in the center. As he spoke aloud, each one ignited with a golden fury, clockwise, until they met at the beginning. The red triangles hissed to life, and golden energy erupted from his shield.

The beams collided mid air, sending a shockwave racing throughout Beacon. Windows shattered, damaged buildings collapsed, and even an airpad along the cliffside groaned and began to give way under the strain. Light greater than the rift could have ever produced blinded anyone foolish enough to look at it.

And just as quickly as it began, it was over. Gallantmon's attack overpowered Chaosdramon's, engulfing the mechanical lizard. When the light cleared, Chaosdramon lay on its back, armor shattered and ruined, smoke rising from its scorched body. Gallantmon stood over it, with his lance resting on its chest.

"By my power as fifth of the Royal Knights, servant to King Yggdrasil, and protector of the Digital World, I, Gallantmon, sentence you Chaosdramon, to atonement. May you find peace, in your new life."

He pressed his lance into its chest, the armor crumbling under the pressure. Chaosdramon made a sound of disappointment, and then its head went limp. Its body slowly evaporated into thousands of tiny lights. They danced in the air, spinning around the center of where Chaosdramon had once laid, until its body was no more, and a single grey egg the size dotted with cogs hovered at Gallantmon's eye level. His lance simply vanished as he held out his hand and carefully took hold of the egg.

Once he was sure he held it secure, Gallantmon turned Yang and the others, and approached them. That was when things got even stranger.

With each step he took, his size dwindled. In a handful of steps, Gallantmon shrank from thirty feet, to eight feet tall. Though he still towered over them all, it was far less intimidating than before, though Yang had honestly never felt intimidated by him.

He stood before all five of them, then brushed his cape aside and knelt on one knee before them, "To you five, I owe an immeasurable debt of gratitude. I, Gallantmon, can say with one hundred percent certainty, that is an honor and privilege to be the first Digimon of the Digital World to make contact with humanity."

 **A/N: Here's how the schedule of updates is going to work. Every Wednesday, I'm going to upload something for this story. It won't always be a chapter, it may be a few hundred word short comedy bit, or a lore based codex entry for something I couldn't feasibly explain in story without damaging the narrative for whatever reason.**

 **I had a lot of fun with this story, I hope you all enjoy it as well. Please, review and let me know.**


	2. Chapter 2

**End of an Age: The Knight's Arrival**

Gallantmon sat patiently in the interrogation room, sitting straight with his hands on the table in clear view. No one had asked him to place them there - he had done so of his own accord. He had given his shield to the men arresting him, though he had politely declined to surrender his armor, and they could _not_ have removed it if they wanted to. He had willingly followed them into the Bullhead, without a single word of protest. They had flown him to one of the airships floating above the academy, and led him to this interrogation room. That had been well over an hour ago.

The room was relatively spacious, for humans anyway. Standing, his head had brushed against the ceiling and he had needed to stoop when he went through the hatch. A stainless steel table and two chairs on either side of it sat bolted in the middle of the room; when he sat, his knees scraped the bottom of the table. The walls and floors were a pale white, like everything else made by the Atlas military. The walls were seamless, save for the electronic door directly opposite of where Gallantmon sat. Though they were well hidden, he was aware of several recording devices hidden throughout the Egg that had once been Chaosdramon rested safely in his lap, wrapped tight in his cape.

Given the circumstances of his arrival, Gallantmon couldn't fault General Ironwood for his caution and paranoia. It was rightfully earned, if misdirected in his humble opinion. But Gallantmon could be patient, and wait until the General chose to eventually confront him.

In the meantime, he kept himself occupied in the oddest and simplest way. He stared at his own reflection in the silvery surface of the table, tracing faint outlines over the burnished metal. It had been polished recently, yet he could make out thousands if not millions of tiny scratches along its surface, all distorting the image of his face staring back at him.

The pale fluorescent light overhead lit spots on the table, creating a mural of silvers, greys and whites. A cascade of rainbows outlined the edges in thin rays. It was, in a word, remarkable.

His inspection was cut short when the door silently slid open. Gallantmon looked up at his visitors with a pleased expression in his eyes. He recognized General Ironwood as he walked through first, arms folded and shoulders sternly set. It was rather amusing how well he matched up with his name, thought Gallantmon. He didn't know humans used that convention, but clearly that was the case here.

Behind Ironwood came two more individuals, and they immediately caught the knight's attention. The first was a tall woman, with broad shoulders. Her hair was blonde and in a tight bun and her face was as stern as Ironwood's. She wore a white, freshly pressed blouse and a long, black skirt. The outfit was completed with a deep purple cloak that hung from her shoulders, ending in a frayed pattern reminiscent of flames. One hand held some sort of portable electronic screen, while the other firmly held a riding crop at her side. The look in her eyes made it immediately clear that, like Ironwood, this woman did not trust Gallantmon in the slightest.

The man that followed the woman inside was the complete opposite of both her and Ironwood. He was as tall as the General, but he had a more slender build and was dressed in a more comfortable but still formal deep green suit lined with golden buttons down the center. He had a mess of grey hair and wore stylized spectacles that rested on the tip of his nose. A cane was held in one of his hands, though he didn't seem to actually need it, as his gait appeared unhindered in any way. In his other hand, he held a platter that he set on the center of the table.

Several teacups had been artfully arranged around a steaming teapot, and a plate of biscuits and butter sat parallel to them. The man took a seat in the chair, while Ironwood and the woman stood on his left and right side respectively. A pair of armored guards also followed the three in, but Gallantmon merely noted their presence; if it set their minds at ease, he was happy to remain genial.

"I hope you have a palate for Earl Grey. I wasn't quite sure what someone like you would enjoy, if you could enjoy it, but I had a feeling that milk and cookies would have been a bit too childish for your tastes," the man said. His voice seemed kind, perhaps even mischievous, but Gallantmon could hear the steel beneath it.

Gallantmon let a smile touch his eyes, and made no move for the tea, "Very thoughtful of you, Professor Ozpin. Personally speaking, I'm partial to both, though I do try to avoid indulging in my sweet tooth unless the occasion demands it."

Ironwood and Ozpin's assistant went stiff at his words, but the man himself seemed more amused than anything. He smiled and rested easier in his chair, "I see my reputation precedes me. May I assume then, that you are aware of the identities of all those present?"

"Excluding the guards, yes." He nodded at Ironwood, "You have my thanks for your assistance, General."

Ironwood returned the nod with one of his own. Gallantmon turned his attention to the woman, "And Lady Goodwitch, it's an honor to make your acquaintance as well. What little I know fails to do your beauty justice."

Glynda Goodwitch adjusted her glasses and scowled. Gallantmon swallowed and added, "Though the rumors of your iron will were certainly not exaggerated. It is an honor to meet all three of you."

Ozpin cleared his throat and said, "How do you know us?"

Gallantmon blinked and though it was hard to say, one might say he appeared bashful. "Oh. Data streams into the Digital World still. It mostly avoids direct interaction, but sometimes bits and pieces are… left behind, for lack of a better word. Most of the time other Digimon will find this data, but I've made it a bit of a hobby collecting it myself and adding it to the Grand Archive. It is truly fascinating learning about a world so very different than my own."

"Data. From our world?" asked Glynda. "As in, files and personal information?"

Gallantmon shrugged, "Occasionally. Sometimes it's simply a new article, occasionally its a blog post, sometimes it's both. I have hardly seen all that we've collected, I assure you. They Archive is quite vast."

His words obviously did not ease Glynda, who exchanged a look of worry with Ironwood. Ozpin interrupted before either could speak, "Gallantmon, are you aware of why we brought you here?"

The Knight's grew more serious. "I am well aware of the reasoning and that my sudden arrival has merited some… confusion, and worry.."

"Not the first word I would use," Ironwood murmured.

Ozpin raised a calming hand, "James, please. I believe our guest is aware of what occurred at Beacon."

"With all due respect, Ozpin, he and that 'Chaosdramon' nearly destroyed the entire school. There's a hole the size of a bus through three dormitories. We're very lucky the school was half empty and that the only injured were _my_ men."

"If I hadn't intervened, then your entire Academy would have been reduced to rubble." All eyes turned back to Gallantmon. His arms were folded as he sat straight up, eyes focused on Ironwood. "Though I wish it were not true, you seem to have no physical weapon capable of harming a digimon of its power. Thus the only way I could destroy it was with overwhelming force. Such is the unfortunate way of things."

He let out a deep breath and closed his eyes, "Still, it eases my conscience to know that the casualties were minor. Will your soldiers survive?"

Ironwood drew his lips tight before speaking, "A few broken bones and burns. They'll recover. I always take care of my own."

"I would assume nothing less of a man with your reputation," Gallantmon replied, respect in his voice.

Ozpin spoke up, "That aside, you should know that we have questions for you, Gallantmon. Would you be willing to answer them?"

"To the best of my ability."

Ozpin folded his hands together and said, "Excellent. Let's start with the obvious elephant in the room. What are you?"

Gallantmon blinked, and cocked his head to the side. He drummed his fingers against the table, but he did not answer the question. "Is there a problem?" Ironwood demanded.

"Apologies," Gallantmon said. "I was thinking of how best to explain this, as it is a bit complicated. I am what is referred to as a 'Digital Monster, or Digimon for short. I understand that such a name has an obvious negative connotation to it, but please allow me to explain."

Ozpin glance at Ironwood and Goodwitch, then gestured for Gallantmon to continue with a hand.

"To understand our name, you must understand our history. The realm I hail from, the Digital World, is quite literally named. We were formed from the data of your world. A miracle of happenstance that birthed the first of our kind."

"Thats impossible," Ironwood interrupted, "Data can't just take on a life of its own. It's 1's and 0's, no substance."

"Perhaps," shrugged Gallantmon, and gestured to himself, "Yet here I sit before you, a Digimon in the flesh. I admit, I am no historian; but, these are the commonly accepted legends in the Digital World. Intentional or not, we owe our existence to humanity. Everything about us, our food, culture, even our very physical forms, can find their origins in your systems. Even my liege King Yggdrasil finds heavy influence within himself from your own ancient myths and legends, digitized for your future generations."

"Which brings us to the next question." Ozpin said. "What is the egg?"

Gallantmon tensed, and rested a protective hand over the Egg. When he spoke, his tone was low, and while certainly not aggressive, it had lost its kind undertones. The guards at the door tensed at the sound of it.

"This egg, Ozpin, is Chaosdramon's second chance at life. When I destroyed him, I destabilized his code. Much of it will be lost and possibly returned to the Digital World. But his core, that which makes him a Digimon, survived, in the form of this egg. This happens to any digimon who is destroyed, if their data is not consumed by their destroyer."

"Is it dangerous?" Ironwood asked.

"It is an unborn child." Gallantmon shot back. "Whatever crimes it committed as a Chaosdramon, have been wiped away. When the egg hatches, it will be a new digimon with a new life ahead of it. Perhaps it will remember parts of its old life, but this is unlikely. So long as the newborn is given a safe haven to be protected and nurtured, there will be no return of the Chaosdramon that attempted to decimate your Academy."

Ozpin drummed his fingers against the table, and sighed, "Perhaps we should change the subject."

Gallantmon nodded, not taking his eyes off Ironwood, "Yes, lets."

Ozpin adjusted his glasses and sent Ironwood a glance. The man didn't relax per say, but some of the tension in his shoulders eased. Afterwards, Ozpin turned back to Gallantmon. "You claim that there is an entire Digital World, a reality completely invisible to us, and moreover, that it is ruled by a being called King Yggdrasil. What can you tell us about this?"

"To the first question, very little. I am a warrior, Professor: my skills are in the arts of combat. All I know is that if the Digital World was indeed once contained within this world, it has moved far from it in the intervening years since. We are, in some shape, our own world now."

There was a smile in Gallantmon's voice as he spoke, "The second question however, I can answer quite easily. King Yggdrasil is the first of us. A being born before the Digital World itself. It was he who brought laws of nature to the Digital World, he who has given all digimon to come after him the power of Digivolution, and it is he who provides sanctuary to those who seek it."

Ozpin was silent, having folded his hands into a steeple. Ironwood's expression could best be described as blatant, sheer disbelief. Glynda was hard to read, and even when she spoke, she kept her voice emotionless.

"What do you mean sanctuary to those who seek it? What aren't you telling us?"

Gallantmon's eyes fell back to the table, "Though my lord Yggdrasil possesses vast power, even he has limits. His realm provides protection for the weak and learning for the inquisitive, yet… We are called Digital Monsters for a reason. We all possess the spark of sapience, with both the good, and the bad that entails."

"As we saw today," Ozpin noted dryly.

"Yes," Gallantmon nodded his head slowly. "Yggdrasil refuses to impose his will directly upon his subjects. We Royal Knights were founded to serve as an extension of his will and to protect the subjects of his realm, but this is all we can do. They are left to grow and learn as they see fit."

"Why?" asked Ironwood. "If he has so much power, why not use it to keep them safe and prevent what we saw happen today?"

Gallantmon stared at Ironwood as if he were speaking another language. An almost childlike confusion filled his eyes and his voice was much smaller when he spoke. "A loving parent does not exert their will upon their children forever. They know to stand back and allow them their freedom, so that they may grow into the wonderful being they know they are. For you this takes many years, but for our kind it is much faster. At the same time, they understand that there will be occasions where intervention is absolutely necessary. That is the purpose of my organization. We work to prevent Digimon like Chaosdramon from leaving destruction in their wake."

"So why didn't you do so this time?" Ozpin asked.

A sigh from the knight, "Chaosdramon ambushed me. I was caught flat-footed by it. And more importantly, I was quite surprised when the barrier between our worlds was literally torn asunder. Chaosdramon was dragged through. I followed as quickly as I could, once I ensured that the rift would not destabilize the Digital World."

"Could it have?"

Gallantmon gave a shrug and settled into his chair. It creaked ominously under his weight. "I've not the faintest idea. As nearly as I can tell, there was no lasting damage on either side. Of course, this comes with the obvious added news that I have no clue on how to return to the Digital World."

Ozpin smiled at that, "We'll worry about that bridge later. So far though, you've been quite helpful to us, Gallantmon. May I assume that the 'mon' in your name stands for monster, and that this is a common naming convention in your world?"

"Yes and no," he admitted. "The more common a species of Digimon is, the less likely an individual of said species will simply use the title as a name. I have yet to meet another of my kind, and though I have many titles, Gallantmon will more than suffice."

"And you've mentioned before this organization you work for, the Royal Knights. What can you tell us about them?"

"They are my brothers and sisters in arms. I would die for them, and they for me. We are a family, bound by duty and respect for one another." Gallantmon answered without hesitation, and the swell of pride in his voice was clear.

Ozpin's lip twitched up, and he lowered his hands flat on the table, "That's not quite what I meant, though the sentiment is touching."

"Apologies. It's not often I'm asked about the Royal Knights. In essence, we are an organization of thirteen exceptionally powerful digimon chosen by Yggdrasil to safeguard the inhabitants of the Digital World." Ironwood and Glynda exchanged a small look, mouthing the word 'thirteen' to one another. Ozpin remained stoic, and let Gallantmon continue. "I am the Fifth of the Royal Knights. My power and experience puts me above eight of my brothers and sisters, while I stand below four of them. We typically operate independently, or in pairs on rare occasions. I have never seen all thirteen members assembled together in one place during my service."

The uneasy silence from his hosts told Gallantmon far more than they ever would have said. They saw what he was capable of, and now he was telling them that he was not even the strongest of his organization. Silence in the face of overwhelming power was more than appropriate, it was practically necessary.

Gallantmon bowed his head, "I should mention that our oath specifically refers to 'protection and defense of the innocent'. No Royal Knight would ever think of harming a human without probable cause. All we ever want is peace and serenity for all."

Ozpin reached for the teapot and poured a cup for himself, then grabbed a biscuit. He took a sip and then a bite, and chewed thoughtfully for a long minute, never looking directly at Gallantmon. After swallowing, his voice returned to the kinder tone it had been when he first walked in. "You're being very up front with us, Gallantmon. And if I am honest, what you're telling us is a lot to take in."

"I want nothing more than to assure you that I am no threat to you.." the knight insisted. He spread his hands and said, "Please, ask whatever comes to mind. At the moment, I appear to have plenty of time to spare."

They were more than happy to take Gallantmon up on his offer. One hour passed into a second as they talked in that room. They probed him for answers about the Digital World, Digimon, the Royal Knights, and anything else that came to mind. Yet despite his openness and his eagerness to share with them, their worry was apparent to Gallantmon.

At least, Glynda' and Ironwood's were. He could not get a read on Ozpin, aside from what the man showed him. He was an enigma, and he suspected that perception was not merely due to his origins. That, above all else, made the Royal Knight uneasy.

* * *

"I don't trust him." Ironwood declared, once they had left Gallantmon's cell.

They had returned to the monitor room. It was a chamber only slightly larger than the one Gallantmon was currently housed in, but was far more crowded. One wall was dominated by screens, each connected to monitoring devices spread out through the ship's brig. There were three men and women stationed at the consoles, each keeping a close eye on their prisoners. The rooms adjacent to Gallantmon held two other occupants; a soldier who had spent the previous night on a drunken rampage that ended in Ironwood's personal quarters, and the man supposedly responsible for the Breach in Vale. Roman Torchwick sat comfortably in his cell, just as he had every day since his arrest, a faint, smug smile on his face.

Ironwood leaned on one of the chairs stationed in front of the screens and made a conscious effort to avoid glaring at Torchwick. His attention was otherwise completely focused on Gallantmon, who sat calm and collected in his cell. The two guards assigned to watch him were clearly ill at ease with their current assignment.

"What a surprise, James," Glynda said sarcastically.

Ironwood glanced back at both her and Ozpin, who had brought an extra chair into the room with him to sit on. He had taken one of the teacups, though he had left the platter behind in the cell. As usual, the man's face was utterly unreadable even as he sipped. Ironwood shook his head and stood up, "The sky over Beacon explodes and drops a monster powerful enough to resist almost everything we throw at it, then a 'Royal Knight' interrupts the whole thing and beats it easy."

"I seem to recall," Ozpin said, after finishing a sip of his tea, "That Gallantmon was actually almost defeated by the beast. In fact, it had him pinned and planned on crushing his chest while he was still alive, according to your report. It was only our intervention that allowed him to regain the advantage and end things before they got out of hand."

Ironwood scowled, "It's too convenient."

"Life is full of coincidences." Ozpin replied. "What matters, is knowing when to take advantage of them. A decision which will fall to you in the end, General."

That made Ironwood pause and blink, "Excuse me?"

Ozpin took a sip of his tea and let out a content sigh, "At the moment, my authority has been essentially stripped away. You were the one they entrusted with the protection and security of Beacon during the festival. What we do with Gallantmon and these revelations falls upon your shoulders, James. And by extension, the shoulders of Atlas."

The scowl returned, "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

Ozpin's face grew serious, "General Ironwood, what we are faced with today is a scenario that absolutely no one, and I _mean_ no one, could possibly have predicted. A new life form, one that claims to have been created by our species, has revealed itself to us. Furthermore, it has proven itself to be _vastly_ more powerful than anyone or any thing on this planet. And despite the clear lack of trust and faith you have shown to me, General, I still believe that you will make the right choice."

Silence filled the room, save the hum of the screens. Glynda had taken an astute interest in her tablet, which conveniently hid her face from view. Ironwood was stunned and his arms were slack at his side. It was only a creak from one of the chairs behind him that shook him from his stupor. He whirled around to see all three stationed soldiers staring wide eyed at their superior, which was quickly replaced with urgent concern for the video quality of the feed.

Ironwood stared at the screens again, as Ozpin spoke up again. "Look at Gallantmon James, and tell me if you truly think he is as malevolent as you think he might be."

On screen, the platter had become suspiciously empty, and Gallantmon was dabbing at the grille on his helm with the edge of his cape. One of the teacups was sitting in front of him, empty, and he held the last biscuit in his free hand. Once he finished cleaning the grille, his attention turned to the guards, who were staring at him with their heads cocked to the side in a mixture of curiosity and awe now, and then looked at the biscuit. He broke it in half and happily offered both pieces to the guards.

"At the very least, he's a consummate actor." Ironwood grumbled.

Ozpin sighed, "James. Listen to me."

General Ironwood turned back around to face Ozpin, and felt shocked. The man had not changed, and yet his gaze bored into him like no one else ever could have. Ozpin was tired, very tired, but his presence was a force that took hold of Ironwood's attention as fiercely as the day they had first met.

"I'm listening, sir."

Ozpin closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. "Whatever decision you make, it will set a precedent. Today, General James Ironwood, it is your decision that will decide how mankind welcomes another species into its life. Every man, woman, and child will look to your example here, and history will remember it, for better or worse. So please, as your friend, I ask you to consider your choice very, _very_ carefully."

Ironwood glanced over his shoulder at the screen again. The two guards were at the table munching on their biscuits, one standing and the other sitting on the side of the table in an animated conversation with Gallantmon, both of them visibly laughing.

"I think I know exactly what needs to be done, Ozpin."

* * *

Gallantmon grunted and heaved the marble column off the ground and into its previous position, and held it steady. He stood at his full height of thirty five feet now, and had returned to the Beacon courtyard. Community service was not quite what he had expected from Ironwood or Ozpin, but he could not fault their logic. At the very least, his help to clean up the mess that he and Chaosdramon had made was not unreasonable. He would happily of assisted them either way, regardless of restrictions placed upon them, had circumstances dictated it.

With his massive size, gathering the larger debris had been easier than it would have for the humans. He had carefully dragged the ruined Bullhead airships into a pile near the cliffs edge and gathered debris next to it. Refilling the craters had been relatively easy, and the main focus now was on securing the column back in place. There was damage that required a more delicate hand to properly repair, but it would take some time to secure the manpower and resources for it. His assistance though, would at least return a sense of normalcy to Beacon.

While he held the column in place, several men applied temporary adhesives to the fracture points. He had never seen such a substance before, but knew it utilized the miracle substance that humans called 'Dust'. Their entire society was built around the magical element, their weapons, their electricity, even their computers. It was rather amusing to Gallantmon that like the humans, his kind too had technically been born from Dust.

The adhesive was quick to dry and held tight, so he would only need to support the column for a few minutes. He felt a tap on his foot and looked down to see Goodwitch standing at his feet, tablet still in hand.

"Yes, Lady Goodwitch?" he asked.

Glynda adjusted her glasses and scrolled through her tablet, "Once you're done here, Ironwood wants me to give you a tour of the campus, and to show you to where you will be staying until you find a way home. Unless given specific permission otherwise, you are to be accompanied by a member of the staff at all times, and cannot leave the Academy. Understood?"

"Completely, my lady." he clasped a fist to his chest. "I, Gallantmon, give you my word that I shall not leave the premises without first consulting with you, the Headmaster, or the General."

Glynda grunted and took a step back. A minute later, Gallantmon was given the go-ahead to release the column by the engineers. As he stepped back, his size began to shrink once more, until he had returned to his previous nine foot height.

"How do you do that?" Glynda asked.

Gallantmon gestured at himself, "I have lived long enough to gain a somewhat conceptual understanding of how my personal data works. I simply compress it at will to adjust my size. Unfortunately, this is as far as I can do so without risking damage to my code. Deleting part of my memory would be quite unfortunate, wouldn't you agree?"

She craned her neck back to look up at him. As friendly as he was, when he towered over her like that, it could be unnerving. Not for the size, that was no matter. It was the fact that no matter the lighting, she couldn't see anything within his helmet. If Gallantmon was merely a suit of living armor, that certainly wouldn't surprise Glynda at this rate.

"That does sound as if it would be... unfortunate." Glynda admitted, and then gestured with her free hand for him to follow. They had not taken a single step towards the campus, when a high pitched scream pierced the air. In the instant the scream was heard, and the time Glynda had to question it, Gallantmon was already gone, sprinting toward the sound, exploding into his full size and leaping over a set of dorms.

Glynda sighed. It was going to be a long spring break **.**

* * *

"I've still got no idea what that thing was, or where the heck Gallantmon came from," Yang admitted. "Ironwood took him away before we even had a chance to talk."

After Gallantmon had been 'apprehended' by Ironwood, he had insisted on Yang and the others returning to their dorms until further notice. Though Yang had been disappointed, she had gone along with it. Nora and Ren broke off shortly after to find their other two teammates, and Weiss and Yang had done the same. They'd found Blake assisting civilians, keeping them calm and trying to figure out what needed to be done.

With Atlas fully mobilized, they had taken over and Blake had been free to go. For the past few hours, they had filled her in on what happened, helped find a few people that had seemingly vanished during the initial attack, and were now returning to their dorm.

Blake's face, as usual, was completely unreadable during the entire event. She was a stoic, slender young woman, taller than Yang by a handful of inches with raven hair and pale skin. Her clothes were mostly white and black with a few purples mixed in for good measure, and she had golden cat-like eyes. Which was rather appropriate all things considered, as Blake was technically not human.

A Faunus, as they were called, was an essentially human species save for a single mutation that granted them a single animal trait. In Blake's case, this was a pair of cat's ears atop her head, that she kept hidden beneath her bow. There was a stigma at Beacon, or so Blake claimed, and so she kept her Faunus trait hidden to avoid it. Personally, Yang hought she was just overly shy.

"If Ironwood took him away," Blake said. "I don't think we're going to see him again any time soon."

"He was involved in destroying the courtyard," Weiss pointed out.

Yang shook her head, "Nah, that wasn't him. Well, except at the end. But Gallantmon was on our side. I bet we'll see him sooner than you think."

She opened the door into their dorm and immediately let out an irritated groan, "Ah, man! What're the odds?!"

The window had been completely blown out, like someone had thrown a giant rock through it and took out the frame in the process. Scorch marks fanned across the walls of the room, and one of their precariously made homemade bunk beds had fallen onto the floor. Ruby was going to be heartbroken when she got back.

"Pretty high," said Weiss, avoiding scorch marks as she walked inside. "There was a lot of fire and lightning being flung around."

Yang sighed and let her shoulders slump. "I don't want to clean all of this up. Think we can crash at Nora and Ren's place?" she asked as she walked over to her bed. She started to pull herself up onto it, when something flashed on her bed. Yang stared, trying to make sense of what she was looking at.

It looked to be a giant egg. It was bigger than her head at least, but more narrow. The odd thing was, it sat perfectly balanced on her pillow. It was covered in gleaming golden scales that shimmered red under the light, giving off the illusion that it was constantly on fire. Aside from that, the entire surface was without mark, no ash, cracks, or pits to be seen.

Against her better judgement, Yang immediately reached out placed a hand on the egg. It felt warm, and she could swear she felt the pulse of… something, underneath the shell. She grabbed it in both hands and hopped back down to the floor.

"Um guys, look what I fo...Oh."

Blake and Weiss had started moving Ruby's bed back into place, which had revealed a second egg. Weiss held this one, and unlike Yang's, it was almost snow white with shades of blue that danced across its surface. It might have been her imagination, but Yang could swear that frost was actually radiating off the egg.

"Where did they come from?" Blake asked.

Yang and Weiss exchanged a knowing look as they both said, "The Rift."

Blake raised a brow, and Weiss explained. "Right before it closed, there was a big flash and fire started falling from it. These… eggs? Might have fallen from it. We should try and get them back to Gallantmon. He probably has an idea of what they are."

Yang was only half paying attention to Weiss. The rest of her attention was on the egg itself, she couldn't stop staring at it and running her fingers over it. She was definitely sure now, that there was a pulse or something in the egg. It felt like a heartbeat, but the rhythm was off. Well, not off, but changing its tempo.

It took Yang a moment to realize that the longer she held it, the more in time it grew to her own heartbeat. It was syncing with her, which meant what exactly? Why would this random egg have a heartbeat, let alone try to match hers?

In hindsight, that was probably the silliest way for her to think about such an important question, but she very quickly found an answer. There was a sharp crack, and the scaled surface of the egg shattered. It was one long fissure that quickly spread like a spider's web across the surface.

Yang's jaw slowly fell open with each new crack, and her friends were spellbound. In one fluid movement, the entire shell simply disintegrated into a fine dust. What was left was very small, very fuzzy, and oh so adorable.

It was maybe a foot in diameter, an almost shapeless blob covered in a layer of thin fuzzy yellow fur with two very large green eyes. It blinked at Yang with those big eyes, and then it let loose a squeal of terror. Yang yelled in surprise and almost dropped the creature, which in turn made Blake jump back, and Weiss let out a shrill scream.

That was when the entire wall of their dorm promptly exploded, and was replaced with Gallantmon's very large face. "I heard screaming! Is everyone okay!?"

Then he saw the creature in Yangs hands, and his expression grew solemn, "Oh. Oh my."

* * *

 **A/N: As promised, a new chapter on Wednesday morning. I won't be able to put out a proper chapter next Wednesday, as I have a test tomorrow and tuesday that need doing. So, I'll be posting a short codex entry explaining some of the lore I won't have time or be able to fit into the story with as much detail as I normally would, without ruining the flow of the narrative. If I can come up with a funny enough short story of a few hundred words, I might post that, but humor is not something I have in abundance during test periods.**

 **Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, please review with comments, criticisms, or questions, and I'll see you all next Wednesday.**


	3. Personal Journal 0078

**Personal Log of Magnamon: Entry #0078**

This is the personal audio log of Magnamon, Thirteenth of the Royal Knights, I think. Master Gallantmon has insisted that as far as he's concerned, I am a Royal Knight, but I don't agree. There's been no official recognition from any of the other Knights, and I find myself utterly incapable of deciphering the will of Yggdrasil.

B-but, I'm getting off topic. Master Gallantmon and I were to meet along the western border of Yggdrasil's realm roughly two hours ago. Upon my arrival, I was greeted with utter destruction. Where once there had been a lush forest and a sizable village, there is now nothing but a crater. I have found several eggs in the area, and requested the appropriate digimon to come and retrieve them.

To my ever growing concern, I have seen no sign of Master Gallantmon. I find no trace of his pendant signal, nor his digital signature, and I do not believe any of the digi-eggs would have been him. My lord would not, no he could not be so easily bested. There is more to what occurred here, but what it is, I do not know.

I realize that a situation like this is a bit outside of my scope of experience. My abilities in combat are great, but puzzles and mysteries still elude me. I have thus engaged the distress signal of my pendant, in hopes of receiving help from one of the other Royal Knights. Jesmon perhaps, or UlforceVeedramon. Their deductive mind and incredible speed respectively would be quite helpful in finding my lord. I pray to Yggdrasil that it is not Lady Crusadermon, as an attempted dialogue with her would be quite one-sided.

Hold on, I have received a transmission. One of my brothers in arms has heard my call and is on their way. Wherever you are Master Gallantmon, know that I will find you - whoa!

A-apologies, something large and fast just passed overhead and touched down in the nearby forest. It must have been UlforceVeedramon. I am moving to make contact now-

"L-Lord Omegamon! W-what… I was not expecting you!"

"Magnamon, my brother, please. It is just Omegamon. We are brothers-in-arms, equals in our cause. I am no more worthy of reverence than you are."

"M-my apologies, Lord Omegamon. I-it's just… An honor to meet you, even if the circumstances are… l-less than positive."

"We have met before, have we not? When Gallantmon first took you under his wing so long ago. He has told me a great many things about you, Magnamon."

"I-I… Really?"

"Yes, of course. But that is a discussion for another time. What is the nature of your emergency, brother? I saw the crater on my approach, yet you seem to be in fine condition. I hope this is not the result of another failed quarantine."

"N-no, my lord. The western regions are isolated well from the infection. Master Gallantmon and I were scheduled to meet in this village several hours ago, but upon my arrival, well…"

"You were greeted with an empty crater, and fresh graves."

"...Yes, essentially. I have found no sign of Master Gallantmon either. But I refuse to believe that he could be destroyed so easily."

"Good, we are in agreement. There is another power at work here. Relay your report to the castle, and then we shall endeavor to find our missing brother."

"T-together, my lord?"

"Quit your shaking, lest go to pieces boy. We are both Royal Knights, are we not? And Gallantmon is our brother, correct?"

"I-I… Yes! He is!"

"Then what kind of brother and friend would I be if I were to abandon the search for him before it had even begun? I would say his ghost would pester me till the end of my days if I were to disrespect him so, haha!"

"As you say, my lord."

"Brother, do not be so glum. Together, we will find Gallantmon and bring him home. The Royal Knights alone are strong, but when we work together, we are _powerful_. So long as you wear that pendant, you are never truly alone. Do you understand me, brother?"

"Yes, my lord."

"Hmm, good enough. Come along now, we will tend to these digi-eggs until the Swanmon arrive to return them to a Garden of Rebirth. Then, we will search for our brother. Oh, and Magnamon? I think you've left your recorder running."

"My wha- Oh shi-!"

 **END ENTRY**

 **A/N: Official chapter goes up next week. Hope you all enjoyed the interlude in the meantime.  
**


	4. Chapter 3

**New Members of the Team? Job Opportunities!**

In the time it took for Gallantmon to revert to a more manageable size and make his way inside, the egg in Weiss' hands hatched to reveal a tiny blob, no larger than the one in Yangs hands. It was covered in soft, powder-blue fur, with small brown eyes and a pair of rounded ears either side of its head. While the digimon in Yang's hands had quickly gone from fear of her to utter terror at Gallantmon's appearance, the one Weiss held completely ignored the knight, and stared steadily at her, unblinking.

"Um… what is going on?" Blake asked. She wore an appropriately expression of shock and surprise on her face.

Gallantmon bowed his head, "I apologize for my sudden intrusion, children. I heard a scream and rushed to provide aid as quick as I could. I will admit though, I most certainly did not expect to find this."

The little digimon in Yangs hands pressed itself tight against her chest, and trembled violently while never taking its eyes of Gallantmon. She was careful as she held it, and gently rubbed a finger back and forth over its head in a comforting gesture. At the same time, she whispered softly to it saying "It's okay. I've got you. No one's gonna hurt you." over and over.

This was, at the very least, enough to ease its tremblings. Once she was satisfied the little critter was no longer in danger of a panic attack, she looked up at Gallantmon and asked, "Friends of yours?"

"I am a friend to all living things." Gallantmon said, "But no, I am not friends with these infants on a personal level. More than likely, their eggs were dragged through the rift during my scuffle with Chaosdramon. They seem to have taken quite a liking to you."

At this point, the digimon had begun nuzzling against Yang's chest with its eyes closed in contentment. The one Weiss held had sunken into her hands and fallen into a restful slumber.

"Oh. My. God. That is so cute!" she bounced in place on her heels, until the digimon's eye shot open and glared at her, making her stop. "Oh, oops. Sorry."

It grumbled softly and fell back asleep. Yang and Weiss glanced at one another and looked at Gallantmon. "So they're just babies?" asked Yang.

The knight knelt on one knee, keeping his distance but never taking his eyes off the tiny digimon, "Quite so. Though you see, the life-cycle of a digimon is quite complicated-"

The door clicked open, and Glynda stepped inside, tablet in hand and eyes narrowed. "But that is a tale for another time!" Gallantmon said quickly and shot to his feet, where his head left a new hole in the ceiling. Yang and her teammates flinched and took several steps back, giving Glynda a clear path towards the Royal Knight. Her digimon cowered into Yangs hands, while Weiss's once more grumbled in annoyance at having its nap disturbed.

Glynda closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh. After adjusting her glasses, she looked at the hole in the wall and said, "We'll add this to your community service as well, Gallantmon. I hope it was worth it."

Gallantmon gestured at the members of RWBY, "I cannot ignore a cry for help, Lady Goodwitch, no matter how small insignificant it may be. And as you can see, this is a situation in which my expertise would most definitely be required."

Glynda seemed to finally take note of the two digimon in her students' hands. Yang unconsciously held the digimon a little closer to her, and put herself between it and Glynda. There was a flicker of surprise on her face that was quickly replaced with firm determination. She turned her gaze back on Gallantmon and thrust her riding crop at him. "Are those things dangerous? What are they doing in the dorms?"

With careful calmness, Gallantmon pushed the crop away from him even as he spoke in equally calm tones. "They are infants, Lady Goodwitch. The most danger your students may suffer from is an over-abundance of love and affection. As for how they arrived, as I was explaining to your students, I believe they fell through the rift along with Chaosdramon and I as eggs. Feeling benevolent life nearby, they may have deemed it safe to hatch."

His words seemed to ease some of the tension from Glynda, and her expression returned to its standard neutral position. She pushed her glasses back into place with her thumb and forefinger as she said, "Very well. I'll ask that the four of you accompany me. Ozpin must be informed of this and we must decide on the proper course of action in relation to these… infants."

At her words, the dorms were filled with the sounds of yet another scream. No sooner did it sound, was another knight shaped hole formed leading into the hallway, accompanied by the booming footsteps of Gallantmon sprinting off towards the source. Glynda's brow twitched and she turned her gaze back on RWBY.

Without a word, she pointed towards the hall with her riding crop. All three girls were more than smart enough to understand her meaning, and rushed out and down the hall as quick as their legs could carry them.

Several minutes later, Glynda managed to get a hold of the situation and herded everyone involved in the dorm room incidents to Ozpin's office. Nora and Ren joined them, leaving behind the other half of their team to compare notes with Blake. Per Glynda's orders, they were to wait in the lobby of Beacon tower until the situation was under wraps.

Yang was surprised when she saw that both Ren and Nora each carried a small pudgy digimon in their hands. Ren's was covered in purple-blue scales with bright yellow eyes and a set of small spikes jutting from the top and bottom of its body, both lined with yellow stripes. A bright yellow diamond rested in the center of its forehead; like Ren, it was eerily silent. Nora's a fuzzy tadpole-shaped creature with tiny underdeveloped front flippers and antennae, and large red eyes. It was restless, constantly moving in her hands, and making attempts to climb up her arm onto her shoulder, where it had declared its new temporary home until it inevitably grew bored and searched for a new one.

All seven students sat or stood in Ozpin's office atop Beacon Tower; Glynda seemed to have no interest in immediately reporting this new finding to Ironwood yet. Ozpin's office was massive and intricate, as though it had been built as a clock tower first, with the room itself simply an afterthought. His desk sat against a large set of panel glass windows that overlooked the whole of Beacon and beyond. In the background, Yang noted, she could hear a steady tick-tock of clockwork. Maybe it really was an office built into a clocktower, and not the other way around.

The more she 'learned' about Ozpin, the weirder he seemed in her eyes.

Once Glynda had finished bringing Ozpin up to speed, the headmaster sat silent, and stared at his students and the new arrivals. The soft light of his office made his glasses flash, so it was impossible for Yang to tell where he was looking exactly. She had to make a conscious effort to avoid squirming in her chair.

Finally, Ozpin turned to gaze directly at Gallantmon. "I had a feeling that we would see more of your kind eventually. But I certainly didn't expect them to arrive this soon, or to be so… young." there was an air of amusement in Ozpin's voice, and the edge of his mouth was turned up in a grin.

"I am as surprised as you are, headmaster." Gallantmon replied, bowing respectfully. "I apologize for this inconvenience."

"Hmm, apologize as much as you like Gallantmon, I'm afraid that will not make the problem go away." some of the humor left his words, though it was clear Ozpin was still more amused than anything else.

Gallantmon rose, and his eyes were narrowed in thought. "I have two potential solutions to this issue, headmaster. The first and most obvious, is to let me watch the infants. I can protect them and raise them well enough until I find a way to return to the Digital World. I do not, however, believe this is the _best_ option."

Ozpin raised a brow, "Oh? And what would the best option be?"

Gallantmon gestured at the Yang and the others, "Allow your students to care for them, teach them."

There was an immediate outcry of surprise, outrage, and vehement agreement. Glynda silenced everyone with a flick of her crop against Ozpin's desk, and all students went quiet, along with the digimon. Yang's cowered in her arms and she tried not to glare at Glynda.

Goodwitch adjusted her glasses and said to Gallantmon, "I do not think it would be wise for my students to take up the responsibility of raising so many pets at once. They are busy enough as is, they do not need the added burden."

"They are not animals." Gallantmon said curtly. "They are infants. Children. If I understand correctly, human children take some time to grow and develop into functioning individuals, correct? Several years at least."

"Sometimes longer," Glynda grumbled.

Though she hadn't said anything specific, Yang had a feeling that Goodwitch had been referring specifically to team RWBY with that comment. Gallantmon ignored her tone and continued, "Digimon do not have that limitation. Our world is harsher and our makeup is different. It would take but a handful of days for the infants to mature into a more self sufficient form."

Yang looked down at the little ball of fuzz in her arms, and it looked up at her, cocking its head to one side. She smiled and scratched behind the little bumps on its forehead, which made it start purring fiercely.

Nora raised her hand. "Um, quick question." she said. "How are we supposed to take care of these adorable little guys? Are they like dogs, or…?"

"I believe that would be an excellent question to ask your new professor tomorrow," Ozpin said, before Gallantmon could answer.

All eyes turned to the headmaster, Glynda's in particular narrowing dangerously. "Sir, what are you talking about?"

He smiled at her, "I see Gallantmon's logic. In the future, we may see more creatures like Chaosdramon emerging from the Digital World. Like it or not, humanity has come into contact with a new, sapient species. Would it not be best for us to prepare ambassadors and potential protectors? After all, Gallantmon has a life of his own to live and can't possibly defend us forever."

Ozpin looked back at Gallantmon, "That was your intention, correct?"

The knight nodded, "Correct. I believe the best way to ensure peace between Remnant and the Digital World, is to let both worlds learn from one another. Though I would never force this upon your students or the infants, of course. The latter lack the capacity and understanding to make the choice right now, but it is something to consider in the future."

"Noted," Ozpin turned back to the students. "The Royal Knight has a point, students. We cannot force you to care for these digimon. If you decide you wish to though, it will be more responsibilities added on top of your current curriculum, and most certainly will not be easy. So, choose carefully."

It wasn't even a choice, as far as Yang was concerned. She stood up, still hugging the digimon, and declared, "You'll have to pull this little guy from my cold dead hands, sir. I'll do it."

Weiss rose next. "Me too. This is too important an opportunity to pass up, just because of a little extra work."

Ren rose silently and nodded. He softly added, "I agree with Weiss."

Nora was last to stand, still grinning, and held her digimon over her head where it giggled and wiggled excitedly, "Look at how cute she is! How could I say no!?"

Everyone else stared at her, and Yang asked the obvious question. "How do you know its a she?"

Nora grinned and tapped the side of her head, "Intuition!"

"Of course." Weiss sighed.

Ozpin clapped his hands together and smiled, "Excellent. Then, starting tomorrow, the four of you will begin tutelage under our guest. With Glynda providing aid of course."

He looked at Gallantmon, "Does this seem a fair arrangement?"

The knight glanced at Glynda in dread, only to find her face a mask as always. He turned his gaze back on Ozpin, and bowed, "I will endeavor to teach them all that I know. It is not the first time I have raised infants before. T'will certainly be a learning experience though, with humans added to the process."

"Then I would suggest you begin preparation. I'll talk with Ironwood and see that this is added to your assigned community service. To keep everyone a little more at ease."

"As you command, Headmaster," Gallantmon said as he rose.

Ozpin gestured with his free hand at Glynda without a word. She adjusted her glasses and made for the elevator door. "Follow me children." she ordered as she walked.

They did as ordered, with Yang pausing to look over her shoulder. Gallantmon looked at her with a kind expression in his eyes. "Wait for me at your quarters. I would accompany you immediately… But I don't think all of us would fit in the elevator."

Yang smirked, "It'd be a tight fit. Seeya, tincan."

* * *

It was surprising how much time had passed since the initial fight with Chaosdramon. By the time Yang and Weiss had made it back to their dorm, the hole in their wall had been patched. It would be another day or two until it was completely repaired, but for now it was sealed against the elements. Blake was laying in her bed reading, and had shown an actual, if limited, eagerness to hear what had occurred in Ozpin's office.

When they finished telling her, Blake looked skeptical. "No offense guys, but are you sure you want to do that? We're supposed to be on break right now."

"Nah, it'll be fine. I've helped raise one baby, I can handle another." Yang assured her, cuddling the digimon as she spoke.

Weiss added, "Its an important responsibility too. I am willing to put in the work."

Blake raised a brow, and Yang knowingly grinned at Weiss. She looked at them both defensively, "What? I'm telling the truth."

"Uh huh, right." Yang teased. "Cause the adorable fluffball you're cuddling did nothing to change your mind."

Though it was less outwardly affectionate than Yangs, Weiss's digimon had fallen into a content sleep in her arms, with its lips upturned in a smile. Weiss bristled and huffed, "I'm far more mature than that, Yang Xiao Long. As adorably soft and furry as this cutie might be, I'm also thinking in the long term for what this could mean for the future of the world."

The digimon yawned and snuggled deeper into her arms. Weiss stiffened and her face went red as she suppressed a high pitched squeal of delight. Yang snickered and Blake became exceptionally interested in her book.

Weiss huffed indignantly, "You two are ridiculous. I don't have to take this."

She whirled on her heel with her back to them and nearly screamed in surprise. Gallantmon was crouching in the doorway, wincing at the reaction from the girls, as they all jumped back in surprise. The digimon made mewling sounds of discomfort, but quickly fell back to sleep.

"Apologies." he whispered. "I did not mean to startle you."

Weiss held a hand to her chest as she steadied her breathing, and glared daggers at the knight. "Intent and action are two very different things."

"I am aware, and again, you have my apologies." he looked side to side and added, "May I come in?"

Yang sighed, "Yeah, sure."

Gallantmon walked through the door and rose to his full height, though he still had to hunch to fit properly. Once he was settled, he folded his arms and spoke in a firm tone. "I talked with Lady Goodwitch. She and I have agreed on a room and time for the four of you to meet with me tomorrow: room 3-B at 7:45 AM. Bring the infants and your equipment, including your scrolls."

Yang wrinkled her nose, but bit back a complaint. That was no earlier than classes had been during the semester, and she had willingly chosen to raise the digimon despite knowing the responsibilities it would entail. Besides, it would be something new and exciting, and she could always look forward to that.

"Is there anything else we should bring?" asked Weiss.

Gallantmon nodded. "Make sure to stop in the cafeteria. The infants are not hungry now, but their appetites will be quite ferocious when they awake. Meats and high protein food will be best at this early stage to sate their hunger. No liquids until they have evolved into a more advanced stage."

Yang glanced up at her bed, "Er, what about sleep? Should we worry about them getting hurt, make separate beds, or…?"

To her surprise, that made Gallantmon chuckle, "Infants of my species are significantly more durable than human infants, if what I have read is correct. Sharing your bed will be best for their comfort."

A quick look down at the shapeless blob in her arms made Yang realize the logic. The digimon didn't really have much of an internal structure, yet its shape remained consistent if basic. She still made a note to make a seperate sleeping area on the bed for it, just in case.

"Before I go," Gallantmon said, catching her attention again. She looked up at the knight, whose eyes had filled with that familiar kindness. It was, in his own strange way, the closest thing to a smile he could manage behind that helmet.

"The four of you impressed me today. Not just with your acceptance of this responsibility, but with your courage and ingenuity in battle against a foe who had seemingly outclassed you. I have read many things about the humans of this world. It warms my core to see them live up to those expectations."

Yang looked away and shrugged, "Ah, well. It was a fun fight."

Weiss nudged her in the side with an elbow and added, "We were happy to help, sir knight."

Gallantmon bowed to them both, and then rose. "I will see you both tomorrow, students. I will tell your classmates what I told you here. I look forward to tomorrow."

* * *

After Gallantmon had left his office, Ozpin had called Ironwood to inform him of what happened. While the general had been less than pleased to discover the arrival of yet more digimon, the idea of raising them alongside humans had eased his initial paranoia. Though he saw different potential in the idea than Ozpin did, they both agreed it was worth pursuing. That was good enough for the headmaster, and had kept their conversation headache free. A rarity those days.

Once that was complete, the headmaster of Beacon Academy had set out on his original task before Glynda interrupted him. He stepped into the elevator and inserted a key into a keyhole on the wall beneath the other buttons. Most assumed it was a maintenance panel, but in reality it was a hidden switch. The elevator doors closed silently, and it dropped down.

And down.

And down.

And down.

Beacon Tower on its own was a massive structure, but the secrets hidden beneath it were nearly as expansive. It took several minutes for the elevator to reach its destination. Its doors opened into a massive stone room, easily the size of an airship hangar and, and lit with eery pale light. Shadows were long and slanted at angles that constricted the corners. If one looked up, they couldn't see the ceiling.

Ozpin walked inside, silent save for the tap of the cane on the cobblestone floor. At the opposite end of the chamber, was the girl he had come to check on. She was housed in a large glass pod, hooked up to life support equipment that recorded her vitals. To his relief, they showed she was still alive, if only barely. Despite the battle between Gallantmon and Chaosdramon, her life support had been unaffected.

He walked up to the tube and gazed sadly at the young woman inside. She was average height, with a dark complexion and long straight hair the color of oak. She was dressed in medical cloth and the entire left side of her face was marred with scars. Her name was Amber Autumna, and it was Ozpin's fault that she was on life support.

He placed a hand on her pod and closed his eyes. "I'm sorry Amber, for doing this to you. If you ever do wake up... I-I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me."

A shudder wracked Ozpin's frame; pain, grief, or anger. Maybe it was all three, he wasn't sure. He took off his glasses and rubbed at his eyes with his fingers, and sucked in a steadying breath. After exhaling, he put his glasses back on and looked up at Amber.

She was staring at him, wide awake.

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry for missing last weeks update. Life stuff had interrupted and kept me from posting anything. I'll try and post another full chapter next week, but its finals week, so don't be surprised if we get another short excerpt like last time. After that though, things should smooth out.**

 **That aside, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Please let me know what you thought and feel free to leave questions and comments below. Until next Wednesday guys!**


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